CNN International takes ECOSPHERE on the Road to Rio

• Award-winning Website visualizes Twitter discussion on key topics at the UN Conference on Sustainable Development, Rio20+
• Sustainability topics will be discussed live via 30 Twitter Trees

CNN International is taking the award-winning CNN ECOSPHERE – www.cnn-ecosphere.com – live in the run-up to Rio20+, the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development. Tweets with the Hashtag #Rio20 will become visible in a digitally rendered ‘living sphere’ on approximately 30 ‘Topic-Trees’. This unique computer-generated sphere made its debut at the Durban Climate Change Conference 2011, where it collated and displayed users’ ideas on key aspects of the conference.

The ECOSPHERE allows CNN International to gather opinions, ideas and thoughts of the worldwide twitter community on sustainability and climate change policy and makes them visible. Visitors can observe the growth of the Twitter ‘trees’ in real time. ECOSPHERE can be watched in a livestream via an internet browser, which can be easily embedded in other websites.

The Hashtag #Rio20 filters tweets on the topics discussed at and around the UN conference and sorts them by relevance. Visitors to the ECOSPHERE can examine the main discussion topics of the Twitter community by zooming on the different ‘tree branches’, while a separate timeline documents the development of the discussions and the ECOSPHERE environment itself.

ECOSPHERE was most recently awarded with two Cannes Lions at the 59. International Festival of Creativity, one Silver Lion in the category “Publications & Media” and one Bronze Lion in the category “Best Integrated Campaign Led by Promotion and Activation”. Earlier this the year the Ecosphere won gold and silver prizes at the ADC and Clio Awards in New York, at the Montreux Festival, at the ADC of Europe Awards in Barcelona as well as with the Grand Prix of ADC Germany.

CNN International will be inviting viewers around the world to make their voices heard, by joining the Rio conversation in the Ecosphere. Our viewers’ opinions will be showcased online as the Ecosphere grows. In addition, the ECOSPHERE Project will be part of the June edition of “Road to Rio: A Green City Journey”. In the months approaching the summit, CNN made the journey to Rio starting in the UAE and travelling across India, China, the USA and Mexico reporting on local climate protection projects. In June “Road to Rio: A Green City Journey” will be dedicated to the themes of the Earth Summit. For more information please go to www.cnn.com/roadtorio.

Find more Information on ECOSPHERE on www.cnn-ecosphere.com. A youtube video can be shared via  http://youtu.be/hLBXpkDSOBs